


Crystalline Clarity

by GrannyBoo



Series: The Dire Claimed [4]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon divergent: Lorenzo Arc, M/M, Spoilers for Post Zadash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 06:53:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16827409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrannyBoo/pseuds/GrannyBoo
Summary: Fourth in the Dire Claimed series, a brief look at the Lorenzo arc if certain aspects were changed.





	Crystalline Clarity

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoy this awfullness and feel free to yell at me in the comments and on tumblr at my art blog Oakyboo <3

Fjord woke to a number of disturbing realisations.

One, he was alone. He very rarely woke alone, Caleb wrapped up in his arms and still sleeping heavily. He would eventually wake, as he was prone to do when Fjord was forced into consciousness an hour before dawn by his newly set internal clock. But Caleb wasn’t there to murmur sleepily at him and drag him back into bed so they could spend the hours before the rest of their party woke just enjoying each other’s presence.

Two, he was bound and gagged.

When he gathered his thoughts enough to realise this, he struggled, the rumbling in his head growing in volume and ferocity until he was roaring through the rough spit-soaked cloth stuffed between his teeth, arms protesting the struggling until he felt a dull pop in his right shoulder.

He heard muffled words from an unfamiliar voice but nothing clear cut through the noise. He felt a touch on his wrists then everything went dark.

-

He came to again, this time facing the rest of the cell instead of the stone wall he’d been greeted with before, he saw his companions. Yasha and Jester, also bound and gagged nearby, the pair watching him with concern. Jester tried to speak through the gag but nothing was clear enough for him to gauge. He tried struggling again, snarling through the pain in his shoulder. Apparently it wasn’t a high enough priority for their captors to re-set but as he struggled, he caught Yasha’s eye.

The look she had fixed on him was one of understanding and rage, but unlike his which threatened to overwhelm his sense again, she was restrained. Her muscles were tensed at the arms as she slowly pulled at the manacles, listening to them creak in protest but never give.

She shook her head slowly at him. His lip curled back over his teeth in outrage and Jester made a muffled noise, something attempting to soothe him, he let his head drop against the ground, grinding his forehead into the stonework, trying to use pain to centre himself again. Caleb. He had to get to Caleb. He was alone _he was away from his mate_. He blinked himself back to a state of focus and looked around. An iron gate and through it a single heavy wooden door, closed with no light coming from beneath it. Nothing on the ground around them to use to pick the manacles, feet and hands bound and then the sets of manacles bound together to hog tie them. And from the lack of magical presence beneath Fjord’s skin and the way they refused to bend to Yasha’s immense strength, they were probably magically enhanced.

They were there for hours, Fjord trying to stave of the growing feeling of panic and anger while Jester and Yasha helped to keep him steady.

Caleb was alright. He is with Beau and Molly and Nott. He will be fine. They will…

They will probably attempt to rescue them. He felt his breaths becoming frantic and his pulse racing in his ears. Yasha and Jester could see him come to some sort of realisation and tried to bring him back but the swarm of thoughts ran through his head. He ground his forehead into the stone again, but found no focus in the pain.

They will try to rescue them, and they will get hurt, _Caleb would get hurt, he might even_ -…

The howling wail he let out through the gag was apparently enough to bring the attention of whoever was outside of the room, the door opening and three figures stepped through, two cloaked and barely distinguishable with the light behind them, shadowing their faces.

“Why is he making that noise? Shut it,” one of the cloaked figures opened the gate and delivered a swift kick to Fjord’s side, while the bald-headed man watched curiously.

“Stop. Remove the pale diviner’s gag.”

The figure hesitated but did as instructed. Yasha’s voice was rough but controlled.

“He will keep doing that. He won’t stop, he’s not rational right now,” her words seemed to intrigue him.

“They always go quiet. Eventually. This one,” he mused, crouching down in front of Fjord and tugged at his hair, forcing Fjord’s eyes to his, seeing something in the frantic expression in his face. “There’s something you’re afraid of. Some _one you’re afraid for_.”

Fjord thrashed out of the grip and when a hand tried to grab him, he slammed his head into their ankle and received a kick to the head in return, his vision going fuzzy for a moment.

“He’ll exhaust himself screaming soon enough. And if he doesn’t, well. More fun for us then. Take him to the playroom.”

-

Caleb stood outside the heavy doorway, the smouldering corpses of the guards and Lorenzo crackling away behind him but he paid it little mind as the almost painful fire in his chest urged him forward. Nott, Beau, Keg, and Caduceus followed behind, making sure the guards stayed down and checking for traps along the way.

“Are they in there?” Caleb asked, watching Nott feel along the edges of the doorway, peeking through the keyhole. She shot back, glancing warily at Caleb.

“I can see them. Its…Its bad, Caleb.”

Caleb’s fingers sparked as he whispered, low and feral, for Nott to ‘Please move’. As soon as she ducked to the side, the door was thrown free of its frame, slamming into the ground with a crash and the scattering of splinters across the room.

“Fjord-!”

Caleb darted into the room, stopping in his tracks when he was met with the sight of Jester and Yasha, chained to the wall, bruised (a shallow gash over Jester’s cheek) but for the most part alright. Yasha’s fists shook and she tugged at the manacles with growing frustration, only stilling once Beau ran over to release her. Jester’s eyes were wide and damp with tears.

“Caleb-“ her words cut off and she started to cry, looking towards the other end of the room.

Fjord, wrists and ankles raw where they were manacled to the table, red encrusted along the edges of the metal. He was mostly undressed, smallclothes the only thing maintaining his privacy, putting the rest of his bloodied, bruised and burned body on display. Fjord’s head rolled to the side, hazy eyes fixing on Caleb. His face twisted into something pained and desperate and he strained against the chains, muffled noises blocked by the bloodied cloth that cut into his jaw enough that Caleb could see the missing space where a molar had been.

“Wild Mother help him, Mr Caleb, is this one of your friends?”

Caduceus took a step towards Fjord and Caleb almost hit him on instinct, making the cleric step back with a curious look on his face as he watched Caleb with his trembling frame and thinly veiled attempts at self-control.

“I-…I am sorry. Please, do you have a potion? A few would be preferable. I… _I_ need to heal him. Please,” he ground out, hands shaking. Caduceus took out the viscous red potion and handed it to Caleb, Nott passing him one as well, which he placed on the table beside Fjord’s head. The half-orc pulled at the chains, trying to reach out for Caleb but it just opened up the wounds around his wrists, fresh red trailing down his arms.

“Please, stop. _Stop, mein geliebter_ ,” Caleb pleaded, shaking fingers struggling to untie the cloth for a moment but he eventually removed it, throwing it to the side and reaching for one of the potions.

“ _Cay_ -“

“Shh, it will be alright. Here,” Caleb held the bottle steady as he helped Fjord drink the potion, hearing the sigh of relief from his lover when he relaxed against the table, the more superficial cuts and the worst of the bleeding fading into something manageable.

“Lorenzo. He was out there-“ Yasha bit out, supported by Beau’s arm around her waist while they both fussed over Jester.

“We killed him. He’s not going to hurt any of you again,” Nott assured, edging towards the table with a questioning look at Caleb. He nodded and she began prodding at the manacles around Fjord’s ankles, using the key she’d managed to lift off of Lorenzo’s smouldering corpse. Caleb’s attention was split between their conversation and the man in front of him who looked as though he were bordering on delirium. Caleb ran a hand through Fjord’s hair, helping him drink the other potion once the manacles were removed.

“Thank you, Nott. I have him, if that is alright?” Caleb murmured. Nott seemed to understand and went to assist the others while Caleb attended to Fjord.

“ _Caleb_ ,” Fjord had gained back a little bit of his strength, enough to bring himself up to a sitting position, weakly trying to drag Caleb in closer. When the wizard finally brought Fjord’s head to his neck, letting him just relax and breathe, he nearly jumped, the heat pouring off of Fjord’s skin in waves startling and bringing back that sense of panic. He nudged Fjord back up (albeit with a lot of reluctance from the pitiful keen Fjord made at being pushed away) and framed his face with his hands, watching the way Fjord’s eyes dragged over his face with little to no focus.

“Fjord, how do you feel?”

“…hurts.”

His voice is a slurred mumble, both from the pain in his jaw from his missing teeth and from whatever it was causing the fever. A quick look over his body and Caleb found the culprit; gouges in his back, flared red and exposed, likely infected from where they had been pressed against the filthy table for so long. They were too ragged to be from a properly sharpened blade. A rusted, almost serrated blade across the room seemed the most likely suspect.

“He knew what I am. He…I told him to stop. He was taunting me,” Yasha said as though it were an admission of guilt.

“That he did not suffer more is my only regret,” Caleb murmured, turning to Caduceus. “I apologise, do you have something for infections? I do not believe the potions are helping and his temperature is quite high.”

“Of course, Mr Caleb,” Caduceus replied with his gentle smile and soothing presence, walking around to Fjord’s back while Caleb kept his eyes locked on Fjord’s.

“Mr Clay is going to fix your back, we will rest, then we will all leave and go somewhere safe, alright? Nod if you understand me, _geliebter_ ,” Caleb watched Fjord’s brow furrow as he processed the information before giving a subtle nod, trying to pull Caleb in again. Caleb relented, holding Fjord still and stroking his hair as Caduceus applied a poultice to the inflamed skin. Similar in consistency to the one he remembered from the orc camp but the smell was far more pleasant.

“One more touch…” Caduceus’ hands glowed for a moment, then Fjord sighed, heated breath puffing against Caleb’s neck. “Just keep him off that back for the night and after the herbs clear the infection, we can give healing another go.”

“Thank you, Mr Clay.”

“No problem at all. I’ll go check on the others,” he replied, ducking away and leaving the pair their privacy.

“I am sorry we did not get here sooner,” Caleb’s apology was met with a low rumble, not quite clear enough for him to understand but he knew better than to bother asking Fjord to repeat himself quite yet. He tugged gently on Fjord’s arms and helped him down from the table, pressing a light kiss to his collarbone. “Come. You need rest.”

-

The Nein left, tears and curses exchanged when the absent trio learned what had happened to Molly but they were still thankful for their safely returned friends and mourned him quietly.

During the cart ride back to Zadash, Fjord spent a fair amount of time beside Caleb, pressed close, especially after they visited the grave. When they bedded down one night, the pair a little further from the fire than the others, Fjord brought himself up on one elbow, looking down at Caleb as he struggled to resolve something in his head before he verbalised it.

“I love you.”

Caleb was stunned for a brief moment before he let out an amused snort.

“I believe we have established this before.”

“I know, I just-. I realised I’d never said it. The actual words. Mutual understandin’ is one thing but…I felt like I needed you to hear those words. After what happened- what _could have_ happened-“ Caleb quietened him with a gentle kiss, pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you as well. There. Now it is perfectly clear, yes?”

Fjord smiled against Caleb’s cheek and pressed another kiss there, chuckling fondly.

“Crystal.”


End file.
